Friday, May 05, 2006

Walking In Love

Taking another look on how people view homosexuality takes a whole new spin on the hatred and prejudice that takes place in the world. Those people call it ‘walking in love’ and make excuses for their ungodly behavior. They act out in self-defense and call us ‘sinners’ when they have their own sins to deal with. Being a hypocrite and walking in love are two different things.

“Everyone who believes in Him is freed from all guilt and declared rigt with God—something the Jewish law (Old Testament) could never do.” ~Acts 13:39

I was watching a documentary "All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise," and was happy to see so many gay families attend this cruise. It focused on the lives of children who were brought up in gay & lesbian households. These children and young adults were all wiser beyond their years. They had so much clarity and acceptance towards everyone. The families would get together and talk about the trials they endured while adopting or going through artificial insemination in order to create a family, as well as how the children coped with others who were opposed to it.

They created an environment that enabled them to share their story and how they handled outsiders' point of views of their lifestyle. They held meetings and support groups on this cruise, and it was so interesting what they all had to say and what they went through. They also demonstrated how much love they had for one another as a family. It was amazing.

While stopping on an island, these two men who were about to exchange vows went into a jeweler to look at rings along with their 7 year old son.

The jeweler asked, “So you’re looking for wedding bands?”“Yes, I’m getting married this week, and I want my son to help me pick it out.”“Oh how nice! And what are you going to pick out for your mommy?” The jeweler ask, (automatically assuming that it was a heterosexual couple tying the knot.)“I don’t have a mommy.” the boy says sheepishly.“Well then, what do you have?”“I have a daddy and a daddy.”

The father hugged his son. The jeweler just looked at him, and backed up in embarrassment. It wasn’t his fault he didn’t know—he just wasn’t exposed to that kind of lifestyle. A lot of people would have given the same reaction.

As they docked the boat over in the Bahamas, they were greeted with radical pseudo-Christians who were holding a rally against the homosexuals stepping foot on their island.

They all chanted, “NO!...NO!...NO!...” while holding up picket signs that spewed hatred and resentment towards the gay community and their families. Some parents had to cover the eyes of their children as they walked off the boat so they wouldn’t have to witness this sort of thing. Other parents didn’t have to; their kids were already exposed to this kind of treatment by extremists.

“Yes, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil people and impostors will flourish. They will go on deceiving others, and they themselves will be deceived.” ~2 Timothy 3:12

Homosexual families will continue to endure this unfair treatment by people who claim to be perfect; people who claim that Jesus is their Lord. But let me ask you, would Jesus want these radicals to lash out at others? Would you see Jesus in a rally holding picket signs of hatred and resentment towards His own people?

No…Because Jesus “is” love. God is love. If you treat one of his children with hatred---whether being judgmental or criticizing one another; it’s still looked down upon by God.

Don’t speak evil against each other, my dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize each other and condemn each other, then you are criticizing and condemning God’s law. But you are not a judge who can decide whether the law is right or wrong. Your job is to obey it. God alone, who made the law, can rightly judge among us. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to condemn your neighbor? ~James 4:11-12

Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. For others will treat you as you treat them. Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged. And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying, “Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,” when you can’t see past the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye. ~Matthew 7:5

Theologians and bible thumping radicals will always try to make you feel bad for whatever your sin is. They will consistently bash you and say it’s of God’s work. I would like to think that my God is an ‘all loving’ God who has forgiven me for my sins. I’d hope that the God that I worship is a God that’s merciful, and not full of hate and prejudice towards his children.

"Love One Another"

“If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to eternal life. But a person who has no love is still dead. Anyone who hates another Christian is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them. We know what real love is because Christ gave up his life for us.” 1 John 3:14-16

“Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions. It is by our actions that we know we are living in the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before the Lord, even if our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.” 1 John 3:18-20

“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God—for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. There is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love has been brought to full expression through us.” 1 John 4:7-12

It’s absolutely crazy to see so many radical pseudo-Christians prancing around displaying hatred towards the gay and lesbian community—as well as their families. It’s a disgrace which shows no sign of love.

To me, this is not what God wants. I was called a ‘mocker’ for loving Christ, and living with my partner who I love for twelve years. Dani, was appalled by this, and said that I mocked God by loving Him with all my heart and professing that He is my Savior, when I love another person of the same gender. Why would anybody care ‘who’ I love? If I had children, would they terrorize them? Would they torture them with hateful words and call them sinners?

I just want to say how bad I felt for those families that walked off that ship into a pool of angry protesters. Who are they to judge us? Who are they to even criticize us for our lifestyle when they have their own issues to tend with?

Ironically enough, the person who says you’re a pervert for being gay will go back home, do her drugs and neglect her kids. Do we judge her? ..No. But she’ll be back out there in the picket lines protesting against the gay and lesbian communities calling it ‘walking in love’.Please visit Julia Booth on her thoughts about Christianity and the way she views what it means to be a loving Christian. The post is called, "Myths About Christianity". It's a thought provoking post that's well written and very articulate. Go visit her if you can.